A fresh controversy has erupted within the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as party leaders clash over the unexpected approval of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) budget, with accusations flying that the move sidelined the party’s incarcerated founder, Imran Khan.
The controversy gained momentum after Imran Khan’s sister, Aleema Khan, alleged that the KP government passed the budget in haste without the party founder’s explicit instructions — a move she suggested amounted to making Khan "minus one" from his own party.
Aleema Khan: ‘I think he is minus one’
Speaking to reporters outside Adiala Jail after meeting her brother, Aleema Khan gave a candid response to a journalist’s question asking if Imran Khan had said the budget would not be passed without his approval, but now that it has been done, has Imran Khan been minused?
“I think it is done,” she said, referring to the feared “minus one” formula — a term often used to describe efforts to remove Imran Khan from PTI's core leadership.
She criticized KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur’s administration for allegedly rushing the budget approval without consulting the party founder.
PTI secretary general questions process
Backing Aleema’s concerns, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja also raised red flags over the process, stating that Imran Khan had instructed that the budget not be passed without his consultation.
“Khan Sahib’s only instruction was that I should be consulted before passing the budget. That consultation didn’t happen,” Raja said, questioning why the KP budget was passed on June 23 when it could have waited until the 30th. Questions have arisen in this regard as to why the budget was passed on this new date, he remarked.
Barrister Gohar: No one can minus Khan
In response, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan strongly denied Aleema Khan’s statement and dismissed the notion of a “minus one” scheme.
“No one in the world can minus Khan Sahib. Not even the biggest powers could do it,” Gohar said, rejecting both the claim that the budget was approved improperly and the implication that the party founder was sidelined.
“This is Khan Sahib’s assembly, Khan Sahib’s vote, and Khan Sahib’s budget. How can it be passed without his instructions?” Gohar questioned — denying that the budget had been approved a day earlier while also acknowledging it was his leader’s domain.
Gandapur hits back at ‘hypocrisy’ and ‘conspiracy’
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur issued a fiery rebuttal through a video message, calling out internal factions for allegedly working against the founder’s vision.
“Some people are advancing the agenda of weakening the PTI founder; these people are spreading the agenda of the founder's opponents,” Gandapur said, warning that a conspiracy had been underway to justify the imposition of a financial emergency or even governor’s rule in KP under the pretext of the budget.
He further alleged that some people were acting hypocritically and conspiringly in an effort to snatch the powers of the PTI founder for themselves. "There was a continuous conspiracy to remove us (from power), and many of our own people were part of it," the CM alleged, adding that the budget was passed out of constitutional necessity, not betrayal.
"At the time of budget approval, sometimes there was talk of treason and sometimes of minus one. A campaign was continuously run, and then the PTI founder's statement also appeared. The PTI founder has said he did not stop anyone him from presenting the budget.
“Due to a lack of meetings, no instructions were received from the founder regarding the budget. But let it be clear — whenever the founder of PTI says, we will dissolve this government. But Imran Khan does not want to dissolve it,” Gandapur stated.
He accused unnamed individuals of issuing “fatwas and accusations of treason” and playing dual roles within the party.
“Recognize those who talk of minus one. That will only happen when we are no longer alive,” the KP chief minister said, vowing to resist any such agenda.
